Skip to main content

Keymander Nexus is a handy KVM switch for all your gaming devices

Iogear unveiled a new line of gaming products at CES 2022, including its Keymander Nexus Gaming KVM. The device allows players to connect consoles and PCs to one box so they can share a monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

Scheduled to release sometime this spring, the Keymander Nexus is compatible with all current consoles, including the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch. When a monitor and controls are plugged in, players can quickly toggle between devices with the press of a button. Theoretically, this would give players an easy way to use mouse and keyboard on console games without plugging and unplugging accessories when switching systems.

The Keymander Nexus gaming VKM switch sits on a white background.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The device supports 4K gaming at 60Hz via HDMI 2.1, so it can’t take full advantage of the current PlayStation and Xbox consoles. It has limited support for PS5, as the device won’t work with a DualSense controller at the moment. It can use Switch, PS4, and Xbox controllers, though.

Recommended Videos

The Keymander Nexus has a few more tricks up its sleeve. It has built-in DAC that reportedly enhances game audio, and it connects to an app that can be used to adjust key mapping, mouse sensitivity, and more.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

The device will retail for $200 and Iogear is hoping to have it out by June.

This is just one many gaming products Iogear brought to this year’s show. The company showed off a compact 65% Mechlite Nano keyboard, a full-sized Hver Stealth model, and the Unikomm, a full-featured gaming headset that’ll retail for only $30 when it launches sometime this year.

Giovanni Colantonio
As Digital Trends' Senior Gaming Editor, Giovanni Colantonio oversees all things video games at Digital Trends. As a veteran…
It’s time we learn to value all-ages games as much as ‘mature’ ones
Kratos sternly looks at Atreus in God of War: Ragnarok.

In the past few years, I've become the type of girl who looks forward to The Game Awards more than the Academy Awards. This year, however, is a little bit different. As host Geoff Keighley announced this year's nominees, I hoped to see Sonic Frontiers get a bit of recognition. While mixed reviews meant it was unlikely to compete for Game of the Year, it felt like a potential shoo-in for categories like Best Action/Adventure Game. Instead, Sonic's latest didn't earn any nominations, not even for its critically praised soundtrack.

While Sonic's lack of nominations makes sense considering its overall reception, it's indicative of a wider trend that tends to pop up at events like this. Kirby and the Forgotten Land, which came out in March to critical acclaim, only managed to nab a Best Family nomination. Like previous years, even Nintendo's most well-regarded games were tossed into that category -- even ones that were reviewed better than some of the titles competing for Game of the Year.

Read more
Before Your Eyes devs explain why Netflix works as a gaming platform
The Ferryman points to a blink symbol in Before Your Eyes.

Most developers like to make their games as widely available as possible. For large companies that need to make a profit, it makes sense to put a game on as many platforms as possible and ensure that it has the type of gameplay people might already be familiar with and are interested in picking up. GoodbyeWorld Games and Skybound Games' indie title Before Your Eyes bucks that trend in many ways.
Before Your Eyes' primary method of control is blinking. It's a game about someone remembering their life after they died, but they can only stay in a particular memory until they blink. On PC, the player's webcam tracks their eyes and moves the story forward every time you blink. The player's body commands the experience, even if it's not always possible to control blinking. It's a poignantly emotional experience that will have you in tears by the end, but it's also a game that only works on specific platforms and isn't comparable to much else.
Before Your Eyes - Launch Trailer
That's why its arrival on iOS and Android via the Netflix app on July 26 is a logical evolution for GoodbyeWorld's underrated gem. Ahead of Before Your Eyes' Netflix Games release, Digital Trends spoke to creative director and writer Graham Parkes and game director and composer Oliver Lewin to learn how they brought Before Your Eyes to life and how its bold rejection of gaming norms is the key to this atypical experience's success.
Seen on mobile
Before Your Eyes started as a capstone project at USC. Parkes admitted that they didn't really think about if the game needed to have broad appeal and compatibility with every gaming platform. The PS5, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch don't have built-in webcams, so GoodbyeWorld couldn't put Before Your Eyes on those platforms with their desired controls. As a result, there are only specific platforms to which it can expand. Mobile was the most logical place to go next from Parkes' point of view.
"We always knew that mobile was a great fit and wanted the game to come to mobile because we're using a mode of control that everybody is inherently familiar with," Parkes explained. "Everyone has eyes and everyone blinks, so we always wanted to design the game to be played by gamers and non-gamers alike. We feel like mobile is a perfect home because you can get those casual gamers who might check something out on their phone but don't have a Steam account or console."
Of course, bringing the game to phones presented a unique set of challenges. Modern phones all have high-quality cameras, so that wasn't as much of an issue. Still, GoodbyeWorld and the port developers at BKOM Studios did have to account for things like arm positioning and phone rotation. 

Before Your Eyes on mobile can seamlessly switch between a horizontal and vertical perspective if someone turns their phone so that people can play in the most comfortable position for themselves. This feature presents challenges with localization and camera framing, though.
"The way text appears on screen actually requires a ton of programming and design work, and to be able to just completely change it from vertical to horizontal means we need a pretty robust solution for how that text is going to swap smoothly, so it doesn't look jumbled," Lewin said. "Another challenge was camera framing and getting it to flow cinematically. The PC version has a traditional landscape ratio, and while we liked the comfort of playing it vertically in your hand, it felt too zoomed in and claustrophobic. We had to find ways to pull the camera back a little bit when you swap to vertical, so it retains that cinematic, lifelike quality in the look."
"Netflix is a platform that's known for stories."

Read more
After years of wishing, Persona games are coming to Nintendo Switch
Joker from Persona 5 Royal.

In today's June Nintendo Direct Mini, Atlus revealed that Persona 5 Royal, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 3 Portable are coming to Nintendo Switch.

Persona 5 Royal will be the first one to be released on October 21. Persona 4 Golden and Persona 3 Portable will arrive later. Earlier this month during the Xbox & Bethesda showcase, Atlus previously revealed that the three games would be released on Xbox and appear on Xbox Game Pass as well.

Read more